Candide Paperback – June 30, 2013

During the early years of Saturday Night Live, Gilda Radner would often appear during the Weekend Update segment as Roseanne Roseannadanna who would respond to a letter from Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey. At the end of her segment, she would say to the Weekend Update host, Jane Curtin, something like the following."Well, Jane, it just goes to show you, it's always something! If it's not one thing, it's another! Either you're depressed at Christmas or you got toilet paper hangin' from your shoe!"For Candide, it isn’t one thing or another; it is one thing after another. He enjoys life in a castle with a Baron’s family. His tutor, Pangloss, teaches Candide the philosophy that all is for the best. Candide’s life teaches him otherwise, but he continues to believe what Pangloss told him. After Candide kisses the hand of the Baron’s daughter, Lady Cunegonde, he is literally kicked out of the castle. Then, after being penniless and dying of hunger, he is rescued by two men in blue who say that Candide is a well built young man who is just the right height. They put him into the army of the Bulgars. After taking a walk one day, he is given his choice of punishments. He eventually escapes but then runs into another problem. This is the life of Candide throughout the book. He is up and then down and then up and then down and so on. Poor Candide has more ups and downs than a rollercoaster!Voltaire wrote Candide as a satire. It isn’t a straightforward adventure novel. You can tell that from the absurdity of situations. In Candide, Voltaire attacked the doctrine of philosophic optimism. Also, Voltaire’s dislike or contempt or generally bad opinion of religious figures is obvious from the writing. Voltaire’s other experiences in life are reflected in the book. You can get some of the context from the fourteen notes at the back of the book. However, it is helpful to read a study guide concurrently with the novel. I chose Cliff’s Notes but there are others which you can choose. I actually found an error in Cliff’s Notes. In one chapter, while Candide is on a French ship, he sees two other ships engaged in battle. In the novel, it says they are Dutch and German ships. Cliff’s Notes indicates that one of those two other ships is French. Actually, the French ship is the ship on which Candide is traveling.The music for various stage performances can sometimes be described by a single word. For one military oriented work, I think of the word “majestic.” For a ballet like Sleeping Beauty with dancers flowing across the stage, I think of the word “romantic” or “sweeping.” The overture of the operetta Candide, based on the novel and with music composed by Leonard Bernstein, makes me think of the word “frantic.” That is how the life of Candide seems to me — frantic.I can’t read French, so, like most people, I read a translation of Candide. A little research showed that there are variations in words and phrases in different editions of the book. I suppose that is inevitable when a book is originally written in a language other than English. At the beginning of the Bantam Classic edition is “The Sage of Ferney: An Appreciation” by André Maurois. Ferney is the retreat where Voltaire spent his old age. This introductory section was very informative. Other editions probably have different scholarly material. Whatever edition you choose to read, I think that you will enjoy the novel Candide.

After purchasing and reading Candide, the reader is left with the imprint of explicit and oppressive themes that occurred throughout the entire story. The author uses elements of oppression, war, philosophy and religion to develop similar themes and create a rather enthralling story. Voltaire used clashing archetypes to create complex relationships between characters. This review will elaborate on how the time period, themes and archetypes in the story contributed to the overall work as a whole. Candide was written in 1758 by Voltaire; a French philosopher and writer. He is known for his criticism towards Christianity, more specifically the Catholic Church, and throughout Candide the development of satirical themes are evident due to this. The satire used in the story allows the reader to better understand Voltaire’s opinions towards Catholic Church as well as other religions and philosophies. The novel is centered around the notion of philosophical optimism, an ideology associated with German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. It is the idea that everything happens for the best and that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss served as a mentor who taught Candide and Cunégonde this philosophy. Candide is the hero of the story who, throughout his travels, experiences many events and meets many people with varying ideologies and religions as him. There were questions that arose within Candide of who is right, who is wrong and if everything happens for the best, how can such terrible things happen to good people? These questions created an intriguing crash between the archetypes of Pangloss and Candide, because although Candide sees him has a wise mentor, he couldn’t help but question and and rebel against some of his teachings that he had previously lived by. The story progressed through the use of location. Candide was born in Westphalia, Germany where he lived with the Baron, his wife, their daughter Cunegonde and their tutor Pangloss. Cunegonde and Candide were quite fond of each other, and one day where they kissed Candide was kicked out of the estate because she was a higher class than him. Once Candide leaves, he is taken by Bulgarian soldiers to travel with them, Eventually, after being mistreated and leaving them, he arrives in Holland. The plot thereafter is catastrophic in the seeing that Candide proceeded to travel to tens of places. In each place Candide experienced something new, whether it be religious oppression or notices self-righteous people of war. Although everything he experienced was clearly negative in every sense, he continues to naively live by the same idea of Optimism that Pangloss had once taught him. Candide is reunited with Pangloss, but only briefly, because both of them are whipped at the Catholic church for their varying religious views. The purpose of this was clearly satirical and contributes of Voltaire’s personal beliefs as well as how the church could be seen as contradicting to its apparently peaceful ways. Nonetheless, Candide did see this as another reason to illuminate his teachings from Pangloss and how this all happened for the best. All the events that would follow were also tragic. From having to escape Holland, reuniting with Cunegonde but finding out the hardships she faced that were sexually oppressive, being shipwrecked in Lisbon, meeting Cacambo and going to El Dorado only to be utterly unsatisfied with their religion and way of life, a disastrous trip to Paris that lead to Candide losing his money, etc. All of these events came directly after another which contributes to the theme of endless hardships. For most of these situations, Candide and who ever he was with were struggling yet the clear answer for Candide was optimism and that everything that had happened up to that point had been the best possible outcome of all worlds. It is this ignorance that contributes to the overwhelming satire purposely placed in this story by Voltaire. After purchasing and analysing Candide by Voltaire, it can be said that it was rather intriguing. The use of clashing archetypes, overwhelming satire, and interesting themes ensure that the reader will definitely be entertained. All of these element combine to create a rather spontaneous story. I recommend Candide for anyone curious about this period in history and would enjoy a glimpse into the life of Candide; a young man who although faces the most unfortunate events, remains as optimistic as can be until the end.

....were, I am sure, words used about "Candide" when it was first published.Candide is a naïve, gullible, quixotic innocent, who is launched on a fantastical journey around Europe, South America and returning to the Eastern Mediterranean, in his search for his true love, Cunegonde, and answers to the philosophical questions raised by his mentor, Pangloss.He suffers disaster after disaster and is mistreated, cheated and betrayed time after time but just keeps bouncing back.The story is written in a light, humorous style, with echoes of Gabriel García Marquez's magic realism; with an overlying cynicism it is used to lampoon and satirise the venality of the establishment, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.It is an easy and very good read and it just flows along; it is hard to imagine that it was written more than 250 years ago, although at least some of the credit for this may be down to skilful translating and editing.One passage really caught my eye - writing in 1759, Voltaire has Martin saying: "It is said [of] Venice....that strangers meet with a very good reception if they have a good deal of money." - just a few weeks ago, in late 2017, in response to a Brit who complained about being stuffed with a bill for EUR 526 for lunch for him and his parents, Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice, called him a cheapskate and said: "If you come to Venice, you need to shell out a bit. You’re welcome, but you need to spend.” - plus ça change....

This Kindle version of Candide is very disappointing in the translation, which seems to have been done from the original French solely through the medium of an automated translation system, and has not bee checked or edited since then. Much of the text is in consequence gibberish, often using modern-day americanisms such as 'ebook', 'motorway', 'U.S.of A.' and 'guys' among many others - certainly terms which were not in contemporary English usage in Voltaire's time! Other phrases require careful study in order to make sense of what is otherwise gibberish e.g. 'My pricey Martin..' should presumably be 'My dear Martin..' and so on.

"Those who make you believe absurdities can also make you commit atrocities". Voltaire said that and his dictum seems to run to the core of Pangloss's optimistic belief in this, "the best of all possible worlds." Candide's ingenuousness turns him into a flimsy protagonist at times and, like the raging torrent that rushes him down a river outside El Dorado, he is simply at the effete end of a flawed quietism. Voltaire exposes Pangloss's all-smiles view of the world when he justifies the drowning of the monk Jacques off Portugal on the grounds that the sea was made for that purpose. The relationship between Martin and Candide is based on often irate debate and difficult self-questioning, something Voltaire adopted in his diatribes against all forms of religious propaganda and corrupt clericalism. Something of a fairy tale here, but with a robust, subversive challenge to power freaks everywhere.

So. One finally catches up with Candide, the 84-page novella dashed off by Voltaire in three days and recognised as one of the most influential books ever written. It is the story of a young man who is persuaded of the doctrine of optimism by his mentor Professor Pangloss: “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”.This is a strange dark fairy tale riddled with allegory and overburdened with an exaggerated, almost cartoonish brutality. Also cartoon-like is the resurrection of bumped-off characters, however welcome their return. (I’m looking at you, Pangloss.) Less welcome was the undercurrent of antisemitism I detected in certain parts of this story. (Et tu, Voltaire?)It is only really possible to understand Voltaire’s great work as a satire of its times thanks to the rather odd but undoubtedly helpful footnotes. (I am referring to the Amazon Classics edition with Philip Littell’s introduction - one of the most bizarre pieces of writing I have ever read. Or, to be more precise, skipped.)I close with my favourite quote: “Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like only that which serves my purpose.” Quite so. And now the sun has come out and I must cultivate my garden.

This is an adventure story with terrifying and shocking atrocities.The Baron chucks Candide out of his home after he catches him kissing his daughter. Candide ends up in the army but manages to escape and goes to Holland. The adventure continues as he travels to Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Eldorado, Paris, Venice and Constantinople. He gets flogged, robbed and commits murder.The story is too overwhelming for me. So many horrible things happen, it's exhausting. However, it's a gripping journey and not short of excitement and adventure. It has philosophical aspects to it but that goes over my head. I am just interested in a good story.It’s a quick read and you could read it in one sitting.In conclusion I am giving it 3 stars for lots of excitement but too much brutality.